Voting is underway for the new design for the texas license plates. Voting ends noon on Monday, February 11, 2008. So vote early and vote often for the plate of your choice!


http://apps.dot.state.tx.us/services/vehicle_titles_and_registration/vote_plate.htm

Unless the law has been changed, all but the first license plate design will provide reasonable suspicion to stop more than half the cars on the road.

The license plate frame installed at almost every car dealership will obstruct the words "The Lone Star State" on the bottom edge of those plate designs.

You can tell by the position of the lower set of mounting holes.

See this thread: Obscured Licese Plates

Luckily, in their infinite wisdom the legislature did remove reference to obscuring "other design features" of the license plate from the transportation code offense. It is a crime to alter or obscure one-half or more of the name of the state or any part of the letters/numbers.

Thank you, Shannon, et al, for the handy legislative update manual!

You mean, now Texas drivers can't be pulled over if half of their doo-dads are covered?

[This message was edited by David Newell on 02-07-08 at .]

Note also that the legislature has made explicit that having a legally installed trailer hitch will no longer make a person subject to a stop for "obscured license plate."

The Fifth Circuit is still trying to decide whether or not having a trailer hitch justified stops prior to the legislature making it explicit...